Secrets of the Underworld

Smiley Riley: See You on the Other Side | Eslana Lower 07.06.2026 1ó 14p

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of child sexual abuse, grooming, domestic violence, suicide, and the loss of a child. Listener discretion is advised. Eslana Lower has rebuilt herself from the ground up - more than once. Raised in housing commission poverty, subjected to abuse and neglect from the age of five, she left home at fifteen with nothing and spent years forging herself into a nurse, a midwife and a mother of four. She had survived everything life had thrown at her. Until the morning she lost her daughter Rylee. Eslana speaks about Rylee's life, her death, and what it means to survive something you were sure you couldn't. She talks about the online grooming that went undetected, the Snapchat bullying that told her daughter there was no place in the world for her and the four months it took before the family could access Rylee's messages.  Purchase Eslana Lower's Book Here: Resilience After Great Loss - Learning To Live & Grieve SimultaneouslySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Coffin Confessor: What the Dead Left Unsaid | Bill Edgar 02.06.2026 1ó 9p

He grew up in Broadmeadows, survived abuse, lived on the streets as a teenager, and ended up in Boggo Road Prison at seventeen — and somehow came out the other side as one of Australia's most unique entrepreneurs. Bill Edgar is the man they call The Coffin Confessor. For a fee, he'll crash your funeral and read the message you were too scared to deliver in life. But that's just one chapter in a story Neil could barely believe — from sleeping in shopping centre change rooms and bowling alleys on the Gold Coast, to house-sweeping the possessions of the elderly before the family vultures move in. This is a bloke who went from a stolen school uniform to a 42-year marriage, from jail at seventeen to an internationally recognised career built on death, dignity, and telling the truth. Neil sits down with Bill Edgar for a conversation that's raw, darkly funny, and at times genuinely hard to hear.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Uncle Jimmy: 30 Clubs, One Legend | Jimmy Ozturk 31.05.2026 30p

He came from Turkey with a background in boxing, martial arts and fashion modelling. He ended up on the Gold Coast — and for the next four decades, Jimmy Ozturk became the face of its nightlife. Working across more than 30 venues as a promotion manager — from Penthouse to Rose and Crown, Bourbon Bar, Crazy Horse, Players and 21 years at Hollywood Showgirls — Jimmy built a reputation as the man who knew everyone and looked after everyone. Celebrities, fighters, international tours and the biggest names in entertainment all came through his door. And he treated them all the same way: with class, a suit sharper than anyone else's and a cold bottle of Moët. In this episode, Neil sits down with the legendary Jimmy Ozturk to hear the stories from a life spent on the strip — the celebrities, the controversies, the characters and why after all these years, "Uncle Jimmy" still can't quite leave it all behind.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sex & Disability: The World Nobody Talks About | Saurora Grace [Part 2] 26.05.2026 37p

Saurora is back — and this time, nothing is off limits. In part two, Neil and Saurora go deeper into the world of disability sexuality: carers in the room, clients on the edge of suicide, and the kinks and fetishes that most people wouldn't even know existed. She opens up about losing her father just weeks before this conversation, the bullies from school now sliding into her DMs, and why her neighbour couldn't even say the word "sex" when he came to complain about the noise.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sex & Disability: The World Nobody Talks About | Saurora Grace [Part 1] 24.05.2026 41p

She's worked with clients on ventilators. She's been briefed by mothers before sessions begin. And she believes disabled people have the same sexual needs, fantasies and rights as everyone else - they're just never allowed to say it. Saurora is a sex worker, sexologist, and fierce advocate for disability sexuality. In this episode she takes us inside her work: the practical realities of intimacy with clients who have cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and spinal cord injuries, and why she believes shame is the real barrier. She also opens up about her own story: bullied at school, sexually curious from a young age, raised by an alcoholic single mother she adored — and how her mum's death became the catalyst that made her stop hiding and start living out loud.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No Way Out: Inside the Circle of Hope | Amanda Householder 19.05.2026 53p

Amanda Householder grew up inside the troubled teen industry — not as a student, but as the daughter of its operators. Her parents ran Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in rural Missouri, a facility that used religion, forced labour, isolation and physical abuse to control the young women in their care. Amanda takes us from her earliest memories of life inside faith-based group homes, to the moment a TikTok video went viral and finally brought the ranch to the attention of authorities. She opens up about the punishment systems, the staff who stayed silent, the town that looked the other way — and the personal trauma she has carried for decades.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drugged by the Man I Trusted | Zoe Watts 17.05.2026 46p

*Content warning: This episode contains detailed discussion of domestic violence, sexual assault and coercive control.* For sixteen years, Zoe lived with a man she believed was troubled but trying — a husband who attended church, raised a family and told her his mental health was to blame for his behaviour. Behind closed doors, the abuse was relentless: physical, psychological, financial and sexual. But the most devastating truth didn't come from police. It came from his own mouth. When Zoe's husband confessed, he didn't just admit to an affair. He admitted to drugging her tea and assaulting her while she slept. What followed was a battle through the courts, through a community that took sides, and through her own body — which began to break down under the weight of years of unprocessed trauma. Now, having waived her anonymity and co-founded the End I Check campaign, Zoe is speaking out — not just for herself, but for the hundreds of women across 28 countries who have recognised their own stories in hers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No One Protected Me: Inside Epstein's World | Marina Lacerda [Part 2] 12.05.2026 40p

Marina Lacerda returns to finish her story — and this time, she goes deeper. In this second conversation, Neil and Marina explore the psychological grip Jeffrey Epstein held over his victims, the chilling way he wielded power and control and how Marina's childhood trauma shaped her ability to survive what others couldn't fully comprehend. She opens up about the abusive marriage she stayed in for years, the moment she finally broke her silence in Washington and the healing that only began once she found the courage to walk away from everything that had been holding her down.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No One Protected Me: Inside Epstein's World | Marina Lacerda [Part 1] 10.05.2026 51p

Marina Lacerda arrived in New York from Brazil as a child, hoping for a better life with her mother. Instead, she found herself trapped in years of abuse at home — and then, at just 13 years old, was introduced to Jeffrey Epstein. In part one of this conversation, Marina shares how her traumatic upbringing made her vulnerable to exploitation, how Epstein groomed her and used her to recruit other young girls and how she only recently learned — decades later — the full extent of what was done to her. She also opens up about the mother who knew but didn't protect her, a marriage marked by abuse and the long road toward healing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Man Behind the Door | Neil Cummins 05.05.2026 39p

Neil Cummins has spent his career standing between the public and Sydney's underworld — but this time, he's the one in the hot seat. In a rare role reversal, Neil opens up to his producer about the doors he worked, the people he protected, and the world he left behind. From his first gig running security,to becoming John Ibrahim's most trusted man, Neil pulls back the curtain on what it really took to keep Sydney's most notorious nightclubs under control — turning away gangsters, staring down bikie chapters and surviving a drive-by that put bullets where he'd been standing seconds before. He also reflects on what it meant to walk away — and the identity crisis that followed — before finding a new purpose in Secrets of the Underworld. Plus, the podcast milestone that started it all: the interview that changed everything, and what's coming when the show lands on YouTube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stalked for Three Years: The Woman Who Wouldn't Stop | Nicole Madigan 03.05.2026 49p

Freelance journalist Nicole had no idea that a chance encounter at a kids' footy catch-up would upend her life for the next three years. A brief, strange interaction with a woman at the sidelines seemed harmless enough — until the messages started. What began with a vulgar Facebook message quickly escalated into relentless contact across every platform Nicole used. In this episode, Neil speaks with Nicole — journalist and author of Obsession — about the three years she spent being stalked by the ex-partner of a man she'd fallen in love with, the repeated failures of police to take her seriously and what it finally took to get the law on her side.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lights and Sirens: The Cost of the Uniform | Marissa Rose [Part 2] 28.04.2026 42p

Marissa Rose has spent 14 years as a paramedic — chased out of houses, holding arterial bleeds with her bare hands and sent alone to crashes in the middle of nowhere on her first day on the job. But long before the ambulance, she was a little girl making tea at four years old, hands shaking, never knowing if it would be good enough. In Part 2, the conversation goes to the darkest places: the hangings that stay with you, the jobs you can't leave at work, the night Marissa had a date set, a plan made and a wedding anniversary picked. What pulled her back wasn't a hotline or a hospital. It was horses. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lights and Sirens: The Cost of the Uniform | Marissa Rose [Part 1] 26.04.2026 47p

Marissa Rose has spent 14 years as a paramedic — chased out of houses, holding arterial bleeds with her bare hands and sent alone to crashes in the middle of nowhere on her first day on the job. But long before the ambulance, she was a little girl making tea at four years old, hands shaking, never knowing if it would be good enough. In Part 1, Neil traces the line from a traumatic, abusive childhood to the woman who spent 14 years running towards other people's worst moments. They cover growing up without safety, why people from broken homes so often become the ones who protect others and what it actually looks like to be thrown in the deep end on your first day on the job — solo, at a multi-car crash, 40 minutes out of town.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Suit by Day, Kingpin by Night | Chris Allchin 21.04.2026 55p

Chris Alchin grew up in Western Sydney with big ambitions and a double life. By day, he was breaking records in real estate. Behind the scenes, he was deep in a world of bikie clubs, drug trafficking and serious violence — a world that eventually caught up with him. In this episode, Chris gives Neil an exclusive account of how a kid from Penrith with a strict father and a restless streak ended up at the centre of a drug network, the moment a trusted associate became his undoing and what it actually took to walk away — for good.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Built Different: From Boxing to Burgers | Jimmy Judge 19.04.2026 43p

Jimmy Judge went from an angry kid in Townsville to Australian amateur boxing champion — then walked away from it all. Now he's a professional food challenge competitor with a growing online following, and he's about to step back into the ring. Neil sits down with Jimmy to trace the full journey: a childhood shaped by his mum leaving when he was 11, boxing saving him from himself, winning the Australian title at 17 — then quietly losing the love for it. From bodybuilding to bouncing to the mines, Jimmy's path has been anything but straight. Now he's found his lane in competitive eating, and he breaks down exactly how it works — the water stretching, the flavour fatigue, the dehydration traps — after he and Neil tackled a challenge together the night before.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DCM: The Club That Changed Everything | DCM Reunion 14.04.2026 48p

DCM. If you know, you know. For those who came of age on Oxford Street in the 90s and 2000s, the name alone brings it all back — the darkness at the top of those stairs, the lasers cutting through the smoke, the bass you felt before you even got through the door. Neil sits down with two of DCM's own — a veteran doorman and a DJ who played the room in its prime — to dig into what made this Sydney nightclub unlike anything else. From the fear of getting past the door to the white parties, the boat nights, and the moment that screen dropped to reveal a sea of people losing themselves to the music, this is a proper oral history from people who lived it. And just when the nostalgia peaks, the conversation gets honest — about the reunions, the empty walls, and whether you can ever truly bring something like DCM back.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My Mother the Psychopath: 48 Years of Poison | Karen Teasdale 12.04.2026 1ó 6p

Karen Teasdale grew up in a small village outside Newcastle, raised by a mother with what psychiatrists would later confirm was a psychopathic brain. From the age of four, Karen was beaten with a leather belt, isolated from friends, poisoned, and gaslit so relentlessly she lost all faith in herself. It went on for 48 years. In this episode of Secrets of the Underworld, Neil sits down with Karen to hear how she survived a lifetime of calculated abuse — and how she's finally found her voice. Her story is told in full in her book, Poison Kisses. Get Karen Teasdale's Book Here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Poison-Kisses-Karen-Teasdale-ebook/dp/B0FD85LV7LSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recruited at Sixteen: A Jeffrey Epstein Survivor Speaks Out | Haley Robson 07.04.2026 1ó 9p

Haley Robson was sixteen years old when she was recruited into Jeffrey Epstein's orbit — approached at a beach resort by a classmate and driven to his Palm Beach mansion under the pretence of a $200 massage. What followed was two years of sexual abuse, coercion and psychological manipulation that would shape the course of her life. In this episode, Neil speaks with Haley about growing up in Miami, the childhood traumas that left her vulnerable, and how Epstein's network systematically exploited girls exactly like her — isolating them, grooming them, and weaponising their own needs against them. Haley speaks candidly about the mechanics of the abuse, the culture of fear that kept victims returning and the part of this story that rarely gets told: how underage girls within Epstein's network were pressured to recruit others.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She Called Herself Trouble | Megan 05.04.2026 46p

Megan grew up in Adelaide not caring much about school, not fitting in, and not following the rules — and she never really started. After a drug dealer boyfriend introduced her to a life where everything was paid for, she found her own way to keep it that way. What followed was a decade-long journey through Sydney's most notorious venues — massage parlours, brothels, strip clubs — working under one name and keeping her real life firmly separate. In this episode, Neil sits down with Megan for a raw and candid conversation about what drew her into the industry at 18, the venues she worked at across Sydney's west and Kings Cross, the clients she loved and the ones she didn't and how she eventually walked away without looking back.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Girl They Couldn't Break | Suzanne Salloum 31.03.2026 48p

Suzanne Salloum grew up the youngest of ten children in Mount Druitt, Western Sydney — the only Lebanese girl in her school, navigating relentless racism, cultural isolation and the weight of an immigrant family finding its footing in Australia. What followed was a life lived defiantly in spaces that didn't want her — she did it anyway. In this episode, Suzanne opens up to Neil about growing up caught between two worlds, caring for her father from the age of 17 before losing him suddenly, scoring a role on Fat Pizza and why twenty years on she still won't lighten her hair.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.